Trump denies claim he knew in advance of key campaign conference

By Jill Colvin, Michael R. Sisak and Jonathan Lemire

Published
12:44 pm PDT, Friday, July 27, 2018

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 7, 2016 Donald Trump, Jr., (L) places a hand on the shoulder of his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, during in a rally on the final night of the 2016 US presidential election in Manchester, New Hampshire. President Trump denied on July 27, 2018, knowing about a 2016 meeting between top members of his election campaign team and a Russian lawyer, disputing reported claims by his former attorney, Michael Cohen. "I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr," Trump said in a tweet. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 7, 2016 Donald Trump, Jr., (L) places a hand on the shoulder of his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, during in a rally on the final night of the ... more

Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP/Getty Images

Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP/Getty Images

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 7, 2016 Donald Trump, Jr., (L) places a hand on the shoulder of his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, during in a rally on the final night of the 2016 US presidential election in Manchester, New Hampshire. President Trump denied on July 27, 2018, knowing about a 2016 meeting between top members of his election campaign team and a Russian lawyer, disputing reported claims by his former attorney, Michael Cohen. "I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr," Trump said in a tweet. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 7, 2016 Donald Trump, Jr., (L) places a hand on the shoulder of his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, during in a rally on the final night of the ... more

Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP/Getty Images

Trump denies claim he knew in advance of key campaign conference

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WASHINGTON — President Trump denied Friday that he knew in advance about a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 between a Russian lawyer, his eldest son and other campaign aides that had been convened to hear dirt on his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Trump tweeted, “NO,” he “did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.”

CNN reported Thursday that Trump’s former longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, claims Trump knew in advance about the meeting. CNN cited anonymous sources saying Cohen was willing to share that information with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

A person familiar with the investigation confirmed that report to the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Attorneys for Cohen did not respond to requests for comment on CNN’s report that Cohen claimed he was present when Trump Jr. told his father about the Tower meeting and the elder Trump approved it.

Cohen wasn’t at the Trump Tower meeting and has not offered evidence to support the claim that Trump knew about the meeting. He does not have any recordings of the meeting, according to the person who spoke to the AP.

Trump’s team met with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, believing she had dirt on Clinton to share.

The Associated Press reported this week that Veselnitskaya worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, based on scores of emails, transcripts and legal documents that show her to be a well-connected attorney who served as a ghostwriter for top Russian government lawyers and received assistance from senior Interior Ministry personnel in a case involving a key client.

Trump, who in the past has denied knowing about the meeting before it happened, also shot back at Cohen, who was once so loyal to Trump that he said he’d take a bullet for his boss.

“Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam,” Trump tweeted, adding: “He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!”

Cohen is under federal investigation in New York. The Justice Department has been investigating Cohen for months, raiding his home, office and hotel room in search of documents related to a $130,000 payment the attorney facilitated before the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who says she had sex with Trump in 2006.

Trump also on Friday dismissed as “ridiculous” a report that Muller’s team is looking at Trump’s tweets as they investigate possible collusion and obstruction of justice.